


The One Where Everybody Finds Out

by helsinkibaby



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Community: 1-million-words, Discovery, F/M, Het, Romance, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-01
Updated: 2015-03-01
Packaged: 2018-03-15 20:13:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3460451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How people find out about Joe and Caitlin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The One Where Everybody Finds Out

**Author's Note:**

> One Million Words weekend challenge - prompt: the one where everybody finds out

Ever since he and Caitlin embarked on a clandestine relationship, Joe's worried about certain people finding out before they're ready to tell them. He knows it could happen easily - a slip of the lips, one furtive look too many, someone seeing them on one of the rare occasions they actually venture out on an actual date. 

He doesn't think about what could happen if they meet the wrong meta human at the wrong time. 

So when the worst happens and everyone does find out, he finds it slightly ironic that it's not because of a meta human at all. It's a random mugging, some street punk trying to snatch Caitlin's bag one evening when she and Cisco are out for ice cream. The guy knocked her to the ground, making her hit her head and Cisco had stayed with her until a uniform arrived. The uniform recognised them both - mostly Cisco, thanks to the Heat Shield - and evidently deciding they were deserving of Special Treatment, he'd brought them to the hospital first and once Caitlin had been checked out, to the precinct to look at mug shots. 

Which would not have been a problem, Joe reflects. 

Except Barry is working overtime and when he hears what had happened, he comes downstairs and waits for them, even in his worry knowing there was nothing The Flash could do. 

Except that Iris is there, picking Eddie up for a date and when they heard the news, they wanted to make sure Caitlin was all right, let her know they're there if she needs anything. 

When Caitlin and Cisco walk in, Joe is on his feet right away, much like the other three. His first impulse is to go to Caitlin, take her in his arms but he tempers  the urge, lets Barry get there first, Iris and Eddie right behind him. He doesn't miss, though, the look on her face when she sees him, doesn't miss how her hand twitches at her side like she's about to reach out for him. 

Hugs are exchanged and then Caitlin steps back, tucks her hair back behind both ears. That renders visible a lurid bruise on her temple, one that makes Iris audibly suck in her breath. The next thing he knows, Joe is standing in front of her, tilting her head to the side to see it better. He frowns because it looks even worse up close. "You ok?" he asks her and she bites her lip as she nods. He can see a thin film of tears in her eyes, probably the shock beginning to wear off, and when his hand goes to her shoulder, he can feel her trembling. 

He doesn't realise he's taken her hand - or has she taken his? - until the coldness of the fingers shocks him back to reality. He blinks and her eyes widen and he sees the knowledge of how close they're standing, how they're standing, flare wide in her eyes. 

He doesn't move his head but a glimpse out of the corner of his eye tells him that all eyes are on them, varying expressions of disbelief on every single face. 

What the hell, he thinks. In for a penny and all that. 

"C'mon," he says, his voice low, only for her. "You can look at mug shots tomorrow... Let's get you home."

Caitlin's voice is a whisper. "Ok." Squeezing her hand, he lets it go for long enough to grab his jacket from the back of chair. He drapes it over her shoulders as he takes her hand once again and they walk past the curious gazes without a backward glance. 


End file.
